Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) may be used to conduct various military and non-military operations. Such operations may include, for example, maritime reconnaissance, undersea searching, undersea surveying, submarine tracking and trailing, monitoring of various types of sea traffic, monitoring animal and plant life, and communication and/or navigational aids. These and other operational capabilities make UUVs a potential option in providing a seagoing component for homeland security. In a homeland security scenario, multiple UUVs could be deployed along the coasts of the country, and conduct various security-related monitoring and surveillance operations.
For most military and homeland security operations, it may be desirable that the UUVs remain submerged for relatively long periods of time. As such, many UUVs may include a power plant that is powered by a power source that can generate a desired level of power while the UUV remains submerged, while at the same time generating a relatively low level of acoustic noise. Various types of power sources have been used and/or developed that meet one or more of these objectives. Some examples include batteries, and rechargeable heat sources. Although batteries and rechargeable heat sources may be advantageous from a cost standpoint, both of these types of power sources may need periodic recharging.
In addition to the need to be periodically recharged or refueled, at some point during UUV operation, it may be desirable to determine the health status of equipment on-board the UUV to verify proper system operation, determine the need for maintenance, and track or predict system degradation. It may additionally be desirable to determine the health status of equipment installed in a UUV docking station for at least the same reasons.
In many current UUVs, in order to determine UUV equipment health status, the UUV may be periodically retrieved, and taken out of service. In many instances, this results in the UUV being surfaced and removed from the water in order to conduct these determinations. Moreover, some current dockings stations may be periodically taken out of service to inspect on-board equipment to determine if maintenance should be conducted. In both instances, this can be a costly and time-consuming operation, and can reduce overall mission effectiveness.
Hence, there is a need for a system and method that will assist in determining the health status of equipment on-board a UUV and/or a UUV docking station without having to surface the UUV and remove it from the water, and without having to remove the docking station from service. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.